Kristaps Porzingis desperately wants to dispel the notion that he is too lanky to be a superstar in the NBA, and one of the ways to do that is by eating a lot. How much? Three steaks a day, for starters.
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson recently compared Porzingis’ frame to that of NBA draft bust Shawn Bradley. That did not sit well with Porzingis, who knows Jackson is trying to motivate him in typical Zen Master fashion.
“I don’t know what to say. I guess that’s what Phil does, gets us to work hard and fired up,” Porzingis said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “That fired me up. I’m like, ‘I’m not Shawn Bradley,’ you know?. I want to be better than Shawn Bradley obviously and be stronger than him, but I’m a different player.”
Bradley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, never made a major impact at the NBA level. Jackson recently wondered out loud if the 7-foot-6 center was “too tall” for the NBA, as he lacked the strength to bang bodies with opponents down low.
Porzingis, who is listed around 7-foot-1, 220 pounds, made it a goal to gain 15 pounds this offseason. He has already gained 11 by consuming 5,000 calories a day — a diet that includes about 20 steaks a week.
“For now, I’m a (power forward) for sure because of the defense,” Porzingis admitted. “I’ve got to be able to hold those (centers). So that’s the main thing. Once I get stronger, I’ll be able to play (center). Offensively, I can play both positions. At (center), I’ll be way quicker than the defender. So I’ll get stronger and gain more weight, if I want to play (center).”
If Jackson thought Porzingis was going to be Bradley, he would not have taken him with the 4th overall pick. Phil obviously would have preferred one of these two players, but the ping-pong balls did not fall in New York’s favor. Now, it’s up to Porzingis to prove to Jackson that he did not make a huge mistake.
